Home Diaries
Issue 01 - A Modern Maine Retreat
November 14, 2025 | By Lucia Gagliardone
Nestled against a hidden bay in Midcoast Maine, Maria Petrova’s home blends in perfectly with the pine trees. Her "super-insulated" 4 bedroom nest, designed by Hereabout Home's Holly Mumford, embraces a Forest Preservation Zone on one side and a conservation site for migratory birds on the other. A passion project born after a family hike in Bar Harbor, Maria’s vision for her home was a place for rest, a place for love, and a place to continue fostering her relationship with the beloved Maine landscape.
I called Maria on a sunny September afternoon as she was working on some of the home's “final touches”, and we dove into her build journey from start to (almost) finish. We talked about everything from dreams to the design process, how she ended up being her own general contractor during the build, and what her home means to her and her family.
The entry view towards Maria’s new home.
Maria: We’d been coming to Maine for several years before we bought the land. It felt so calm and so vibrant at the same time.
In the fall of 2022 we went to [Mount Desert Island] and did a hike. I was driving back in the afternoon, and we were taking one of the local roads. I think it was just the time of the day that made a meadow we were passing by absolutely stunning. It was so picturesque with flowers in the grasses and at a distance - there was the sea. And then, as I was thinking about how perfect this place is, a sign that said “land for sale” popped up. I said, ‘wait, I actually can buy land here and build a house’!
When I got home I did a little bit of research. I wanted to make sure that whatever we did eventually, we did in a way that's sustainable, that's good for preserving the place. And then we started looking. This was probably at the end of September 2022.
One day my agent called me and said ‘there is a piece of land; they just put it [on sale]. It's really forested, it requires a lot of work. There's no electricity, no water, nothing there. Do you want to look at it?’ I said, ‘definitely’. And by the end of this week, we had bought the lot.
I figured out the best way to go was with a pre-designed plan. I was looking on Pinterest, and I saw this awesome house. I dug a little bit further and found out that it was actually one of Holly's designs. I said, ‘let me call’. I told her what I wanted. I told her that budget was very, very important for me, and that even though I was willing to take the financial risk, I only had limited finances and couldn't go with fully unlimited planning, especially if I wanted to build in an environmentally friendly way. So I talked with Holly and she understood what I wanted. At that time, I was reading a lot about Passive House design. I'm originally from Europe, so the principles really resonated with me. And I like clean lines. Holly has the same mindset. And she offered me a plan on how we can achieve that. We figured out the time frame we wanted to do it: I wanted to start building next summer. And that’s how it started
Lucia: Ah, amazing. Before you started building, can you tell me a little bit more about the design process?
Maria: Yep, yep. The design process started with Holly and she was a key part of it. I relied a lot on her advice and suggestions. This was the first house that I built, and I didn't even know the terminology or what the things I wanted were called. So I'd describe them to her and she would send me drawings. And then [Holly] told me about Croft panels and I really like the idea. So, a team between Croft and Holly with my ideas and the things I wanted was how we ended up at the end design.
I really was amazed at how Holly looks at her work. For me, her passion for what she does was how she made it a personal experience for me. I felt we were a team and she had her heart in my project as much as I did. This was something that gave me courage to start: a woman that had never done a building project before. To get the courage to say, ‘okay, I can make it’.
Lucia: And then you were building! So I'm curious; what is one positive experience or surprising thing that happened during the build? What’s something that was challenging, that you kind of had to navigate in that whole process? And I got to see pictures and videos of the in-process build. I saw the stove, the roof going up…
Maria: When the panels were being installed was a "goosebumps" moment. There were many “goosebumps” moments, but the one that keeps staying with me is this one day, once Croft had put in the panels already; The roof was on and the windows were on. And in the afternoon, I was walking on the side of the house and turned to look at it. We have a big window next to the stove, in the living room. And in the window, you can see the reflections of the trees. In a way, it looked almost like the house wasn't there. It blended so well with the environment. This was probably the most exciting moment, seeing the house coming together, seeing how I actually made it to a point where I preserved as much as I could. I blended it in, I didn't make it “suburban” looking, or “historical” looking. It just belonged where we built it.
Maria’s home from the water.
Lucia: That gave me goosebumps hearing you talk about that. That's such a beautiful story.
Maria: The most challenging aspect was coordinating the contractors and learning to speak their language. We were ready to build and had the plan and concurrently with that, I started looking for a builder. And at the time there was no builder that would commit to start the build before 2025. And these were all “general contractors”. So if I was willing to look for separate carpenters and organize them myself, it would be an opportunity for me to start the build earlier. And now I have the house ready! Otherwise, I would have been starting now with building the house. At the end of the day, I started alone, from finding the forester to getting the permit… I didn't realize when we bought it, but we are in a preservation zone because of the bay in front of the house. There are migratory birds feeding during the summer. So we couldn’t build between June 15 and September 15th. I was able to get the permits, meet the regulatory requirements with the design and the siting of the house, worked with a very good forester to help me clean the forest to make the spot for the house, found the groundwork contractor, then the concrete person…
I learned so much through the process from how you nail a nail or how you build a foundation. I learned how you take care of the trees: what the life cycles are in the local trees and how to think about the future and leave some [trees] with a plan for what will grow 20 years from now. I learned to evaluate where the wind comes from… We did a light study and sun study with Holly when we were trying to situate the house. I had to figure out what I wanted to preserve, the view or the light and the heat from the sun and how to find the middle ground between these two.
Maria in her home, mid-construction.
Lucia: Wow, thank you for sharing that! I'm curious, now that it's almost in its final stage, can you describe your new home and what it means to your family or what it will mean in the future?
Maria: Ahh, well, I cannot wait to go back. This is my place of peace, regeneration, this is where my heart is. I live in New Jersey, but my heart is here. A previous time, I was here with my husband, and we were getting ready to leave. He asked me, ‘are you ready to go?’ And my answer was ‘physically, yes, mentally, no. I just want to be here.’
When I started, my family thought that I was joking. That I’ll buy land and I'll build a house. They did not want to come to the site with me; they did not want to have anything to do with it. Not in a confrontational way; everybody just had their own passions at the time. They still do. Everybody's life was too busy to have to deal with “mom’s new project”. We are a very tight knit family and we support each other. So with time, they've come to Maine with me to help me, from my kids to my husband, and now they all like the house. My biggest surprise was when my daughter was on a trip, which was a very good experience for her, and she was calling to tell me how the trip was going. At the end of the conversation, she said, ‘And Mom, it's amazing, but I cannot wait to go to Maine with you again.’ I think they are starting to appreciate it and I look forward to spending Thanksgiving and Christmas for the first time together here, and hopefully many more years down on the road.
A view of Maria’s daughter’s bedroom, nearing the finish line of construction.
Lucia: That's so exciting. I'm so happy for you. And I can't wait for you to build so many more amazing memories and goosebump moments, as you said. I have two final questions. My first (final) question is: What does home – the concept of home – mean to you?
Maria: I came from a different country. And when I was living there, I never dreamed or thought that I would change countries. I didn't even think I would ever change the town I lived in. Life happened, and so we came to America for three months. And more than 20 years later, we're still here. And we started a family, we had the kids here and we built a life. The time went so fast. And for me, it was very difficult to adjust when we first came. The novelty of the new life and the new country and making “home”. And at the time, I thought that one of my biggest life fears would be to have to move again. I thought, ‘I will never do this’. I thought about what home meant at the time a lot. I thought that home is where your things are, where you look forward to going at the end of the day. And now, having the house [in Maine], I realize home doesn't need to be one place. It's any place where your heart belongs, where you feel safety and warmth and where you can relax and be yourself. And also, for me, it's the desire to share it with the people I love.
Lucia: Wow, that's so beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. My final question for you: do you have any advice you want to share for others who are hoping to build their own house?
Maria: Go after your dream. Figure what the things are that you really want. Make a list and focus on that list. There always will be deterrence, there will always be things that you have to compromise on. But if you have a few things that are the most important, always in sight, you will make it there.
What struck me as we wrapped up the conversation was the intentionality with which Maria tackled every stage of her project. Her home is sustainably built to the core. Partnering with Holly, she chose a design that was energy- and cost-efficient and worked in tandem with the wind, sun, and forest. She partnered with Croft, a local Maine company that uses straw and locally sourced spruce and pine to create super-insulated, sustainable, and cost-effective panelized walls. She created her home in direct conversation with the land, realizing her dream while preserving the integrity of the natural place she loved so much. And after years of research, permits, decisions, and construction, she finally gets to share it with the people she loves.
The view from Maria’s living room.
To learn more about Hereabout Home, please visit www.hereabouthome.com/ or get in touch with Founder Holly Mumford here: hello@hereabouthome.com.
Contact Croft and learn more here: https://www.croft.haus/contact
Hereabout designs ready-to-build home plans for those who desire a home they truly love. With over a decade of experience in residential design, Holly started Hereabout to bridge the gap between budget and design for those who seek a thoughtfully designed home. With a passion for design and a dedication to sustainability, she’s focused on making quality design attainable. Creating warm, livable spaces is at the root of her design philosophy, and she believes that homes are truly a space to belong and connect.
Croft makes high performance buildings with healthy materials. Half ingenious design firm, half prefab-manufacturing powerhouse, and 100% committed to building a brighter future for all.
About the Author
Lucia Gagliardone is a Vermont-born, Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary dance artist and writer. Her work explores memory excavation, ancestry, queer worldviews, and play as a facilitator for change. Learn more at www.luciagagliardone.com.